When Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) questions the probable Democrat nominee Sen. Barack Obama's connections to an unrepentant domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers, his campaign only responds by attacking McCain for "smear politics," but does not refute the Illinois Senator's friendliness with Ayers.  He then went on to smear McCain for his positions on the economy and Iraq.  (Ironic?)

In fact, the only defense offered by Sen. Obama regarding his relationship with Ayers was during the recent debate in Pennsylvania:

“The fact is, is that I'm also friendly with Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans in the United States Senate, who during his campaign once said that it might be appropriate to apply the death penalty to those who carried out abortions. Do I need to apologize for Mr. Coburn's statements? Because I certainly don't agree with those either.”

I wonder if the American people will find Sen. Obama's association with a sitting United States Senator just as palatable as his friendship with Ayers; a man who told the New York Times in 2001, regarding his terrorist activities during the 1970's and '80's which took the lives of numerous police officers and civilians, "I don't regret setting bombs.  I feel we didn't do enough."

I'd say Obama needs to work on his moral equivalents.  Ayers is not a guy who simply made a controversial statement.  In fact, we're not concerned about his rhetoric at all!  Ayers blew up cops!

According to presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill), children are a form of punishment:

I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby.  I don't want them punished with an STD...

Certainly an unwanted pregnancy is a consequence of irresponsible sexual promiscuity, but calling a child a punishment in the same league as an STD?  How can that come from the mouth of a father?

Remember when Berkeley City Councilwoman Dona Spring told us she was voting to grant special privileges to anti-war group Code Pink so that they could hold a protest outside the local military recruiting station?  She said that she would never grant such privileges to Conservative protesters because “this is different than abortion because we’re not saying anybody can’t go in there, we’re just trying to give them the other side of the story, so to speak.”

I've already posted one update showing this statement to be an outright lie.  Here's another.  To use Councilwoman Spring's logic, can you imagine if something like this happened at an abortion clinic?

Kusmiss said CodePink and a group called The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime began rallying at the center about noon Friday.

At one point in the rally, Marine Capt. Richard Lund returned to the center, where protesters had affixed signs and stickers on the windows. When Lund began removing them, protesters tried to stop him, police said.

Someone slapped a sticker on Lund's back.

When a police officer forced one of the protesters back from Lund, the protester challenged the officer, police said. Tensions rose but Lund did not want to pursue prosecution, police said.

Later at about 3 p.m. the women entered the recruiting center and sat down on the floor, blocking the door, Kusmiss said. Police warned them several times and tried to negotiate with them but they refused to leave, Kusmiss said.

As bloggers in Iowa, we try to keep our finger on the pulse of state politics as well as the national scene.  It is in that vein that we would like to encourage Bob Vander Plaats to run for Governor in 2010.  It's not too early to get started!

Mr. Vander Plaats has been a high school business teacher, basketball coach, and principal.  He has real solutions to bring to the Iowa education system which has been in decline over the last decade of Democrat rule, which has seen special interest groups given priority over our kids.

Though he has not held public office before, Mr. Vander Plaats has abundant experience as an executive, and not only as a principal.  He has also served as President and CEO of Opportunities Unlimited, a non-profit health care organization that specializes in helping young adults with brain and spinal cord injuries, and he now runs his own successful consulting business.  Bob served as state chairman on Mike Huckabee's Iowa campaign for president as well.  It's no accident that the former Arkansas governor went from a virtual unknown to the winner of the first-in-the-nation Caucuses seemingly overnight. 

Continuing to use the comparison used by liberal Berkeley Councilwoman Dona Spring (who said she would give special protesting privileges to anti-war groups that she would never confer on pro-life groups), can you imagine if protesters did this at an abortion clinic?

At the peak of the second "Funk the War" dance party/protest, the entire [Students for a Democratic Society] group swarmed the military recruiter at 14th st, with about half the group getting inside and the rest securing the entry and plastering windows with stickers...

After a loud commotion inside while outnumbered cops watched, recruiters finally managed to get protesters to leave-but not before literature and full-body length cardboard displays in the street window area were destroyed. In addition, hundreds more "Funk the War" stickers were plastered all over just about everything that would take them. By the time everyone was out it looked like a tornado had swept through the lobby. 

(Here's a 3-minute audio link of a protester describing the scene: dc.indymedia.org/usermedia/audio/4/sds_storms_recruiter_f15.mp3).

Again I ask, what would happen if abortion opponents stormed a clinic, destroyed literature, and posted hundreds of "abortion stops a beating heart" stickers on all of the walls and furniture (Disclaimer: I am NOT advocating that behavior).  Such an event would be reported by every news outlet in America and protesters would go to prison.